A few days ago, Xie Jin returned to Beijing to report on his work, and the people accompanying him not only included the envoy of the rebels in Jiaozhi Province, but also a military general: Jin Shishi.

Jin Shishi was a military general who was sent by the Han Dynasty to Jiaozhi Province and to Dongguan City (Shenglong) to persuade the official army garrison to surrender together with Ruan Zhi, a native of Annam. They went to Cochin Province to do secret work, and later Nguyen Chi, a native of Annam, ran away first when he saw that the situation was wrong; Jin Shishi did not run away and was arrested by the local civil and military.

However, after Zhu Gaoxu ascended the throne and Jiaozhi Province was edicted, Jin Shishi was soon acquitted by the government.

The errand of Jiaozhi Province, Jin Shishi did not do it well, but he also had hard work. In addition, he had other merits in the past, so this time he entered Beijing and Jin Shi was not punished, and he was immediately named the official of the "Imperial Division......

Today, Jin Shishi is rushing to take office with the holy decree and the appointment letter issued by the officials.

He walked west from the left gate of Chang'an, and when he arrived at the Qinglong Bridge, he could see the courtyard of the Yamen guarding the Imperial Division, which was next to the Luan Jiaku. This is a new yamen, but the place is easy to find.

Jin Shishi has changed from a young offspring to a dark-skinned man. When he walked into the gate of the government office, he immediately saw that it was a mess inside, and many officials were carrying things with their servants. He spoke a few words to one of the scribes and went to the lobby.

After a while, Hou Hai, who was wearing a red robe, came to the lobby.

Jin Shi hurriedly took the things and presented them, and gave Hou Hai a fist salute.

Hou Hai glanced at the things handed over, then took out a seal from the official case and said, "General Jin is back?" You hold this 'Jiaozhi Commander' seal, and after a while, the official will register your name and make a register, and you will be considered to be in office!" At this time, there is no official office in the yamen, so let's make do with it first. ”

Jin Shi was confused and said, "What is our yamen doing?" Is it the same as the previous 'palace guarding the palace'? ”

"Some are the same, but they are not the same." When Hou Hai said this, his expression became excited, and he said in a deep voice, "But General Jin can rest assured, although this 'Imperial Guard' is a newly established yamen, the level is very high, and it has a great future!" ”

He glanced at Jin Shishi's blank face, and then had no choice but to continue to explain: "The government office named after the division, what is in charge of the salt class, the one who is in charge of the market, and the grade of the chief is from the fifth grade; There are also monks and Taolu divisions who have gone out of the six grades. There is only a big yamen like the General Administration Division, and the chief is the third grade! And the left and right envoys of our guard are the three products! ”

Jin Shishi said suddenly: "The civil official of the third grade, that's the minister." ”

Hou Hai said with a smile: "Do you still know something, the grades of civil officials are relatively low, and the third-grade officials are of course ministers!" ”

He glanced at the door of the lobby and whispered, "Since the Holy Lord has set up three products in the Imperial Division, he thinks that the Imperial Division's power in the future will be great!" Do you get the point? ”

Jin Shishi nodded solemnly.

Hou Hai thought for a moment, and then said: "This yamen is divided into two offices, north and south, and this official is the left guard envoy and is in charge of the north office; Qian Xun is the right guard envoy and is in charge of the Southern Administration.

Compared with the Fusi of Jinyi Weibei Town, our North Department is very different; The Northern Department of the Imperial Department does not care about the domestic prisons, but only cares about the news of the barbarians outside the Ming Dynasty, the garrison and other matters.

Below the official and the same official and other officials, there are various command subdivisions. At present, there are six divisions: the 'Jiaozhi Command Division', the 'Washorn Command Division', the 'Tatar Command Division', the 'Uliangha Command Division', the 'Goryeo Command Division', and the 'Fusang Command Division'. General Jin is the commander of the 'Jiaozhi Command Division', and he is a six-rank Beijing official. ”

Jin Shishi groaned: "I used to be a hundred households in the guard, and I was also a positive six products. ”

Hou Hai frowned and said: "Your Zhengliupin, and the Zhengliupin, are not the same thing at all!" You will know in the future that even some of the officials in the Beijing who are not in the stream and have no grade in the hundred households of the guard house are not comparable. ”

Jin Shishi hurriedly said: "I will have to cultivate more in the future." ”

"Don't worry! You and I have known each other for many years, and of course I will nurture you. Hou Hai puffed up his chest, he paused and said, "In our North Bureau, there are not all old people from the Han Palace; The brothers who originally guarded the imperial division of the Han Wangfu have all been rearranged. Some of the brothers of the North Division went to Jinyiwei; And some people in Jinyiwei, who are doing to investigate the military situation in Mongolia and other places, have been transferred to the North Department of the Imperial Division, and they are under our control. ”

Hou Hai continued: "Now the Imperial Si Nan Department is similar to the Nan Si who was in the Han Wang's Mansion at the beginning, and the people inside are different. In the past, those who tried to make new firearms in the South Division of the Han Dynasty Mansion were all compiled into the South Department of the Imperial Palace. Do you know that Mao Kaishan? The military craftsman who made the opening gun has been promoted, and he has been exceptionally promoted to the Southern Bureau to be the head of the department and manage the iron factory in the south of the school field. ”

Jin Shishi asked casually: "Is it the big school field outside Zhengyang Gate?" ”

Hou Hai nodded and said, "Yes!" That's the schoolyard. However, the iron factory is in the south of Daxiaochang, built on the Qinhuai River, and it is still some way away. ”

Speaking of the iron factory, Hou Hai said a few more words: "The Southern Bureau transferred people from various bureaus and institutes under the Ministry of Industry to the iron factory; And because the people of the Ministry of Wood Factory are very accurate, they can make copper calipers (invented in the Eastern Han Dynasty, similar to vernier calipers), rope wood drill bits and other things, so the Ministry of Wood Factory has also transferred a lot of people. The Holy Majesty decreed that in the future, the size of the Southern Department Iron Works should be used in the manufacture of military weapons, and the problem of the different sizes of the 'Hanwang Cannon' should be solved. ”

Jin Shishi asked: "The Ministry of Wood Factory, is it in the west of the Imperial City, next to the place of the Jiaofang Division?" ”

"Yes, it's the woodmill." Hou Hai nodded and replied, he was stunned for a moment, and then said, "Why do you keep asking about places?" ”

Jin Shi touched his head and said a little embarrassed: "My habit." When I was in Beiping, I also liked to figure out where the yamen was and remember the road. ”

Hou Haidao: "It's rare for you to have this habit, I thought you only liked to pinch mud objects." ”

Jin Shishi said again: "I haven't met the money envoy yet." ”

Hou Haidao: "Don't care about those courtesies, let's talk about it in a few days." Qian Yuanjun is busy with work in the iron factory over there, and he may not return to the yamen for the next few days. ”

Jin Shi hugged his fists and said, "Yes." ”

…… The emperor ordered the establishment of a new "Imperial Division" yamen, which did not stir up a little wave in the court.

Usually when the government offices and officials are abolished, something will happen; And the increase in institutions, almost no one opposes it. As long as the emperor can afford to pay the official salary, no matter how many officials are added, there is no problem.

Qian Xun is a talented person, and his biggest credit is that he was caught by the "puppet dynasty" and imprisoned. Before the "battle to cut the crime" began, he went to prison; By the time he came out, the battle was almost over!

Now that he has been directly named a member of the third grade, he is quite satisfied, and he suddenly feels that the prison days of more than a year are very worthwhile!

On the banks of the Qinhuai River in the inner city of Beijing, every inch of land is gold; However, the location where the iron factory was built was much worse, and most of the surrounding residences and shops were not the property of the rich and noble.

Qian Xun took the money allocated by the household department, found a high position by the river, and requisitioned the surrounding houses and yards. The Southern Department Iron Works was built here.

At the moment, the ironworks have not been built, and it is very messy. The craftsmen who built the wall made the surrounding area dusty, and bricks and tools were placed everywhere.

The sun had risen in the middle of the day, and the workers had gone to lunch; On the contrary, Qian Xun and other officials were still standing on a hillside. An official was talking with a drawing in one hand and a hand pointing to the surroundings, and Qian Xun listened intently, nodding his head in approval from time to time.

The Qingpao official, who is talking energetically, used to be an official of the Ministry of Industry and served in the "camp office" under the Ministry of Industry. He heard from the carpenter that the rope was not enough to grind the barrel of the gun, and that it was better to rely on water; The Qingpao official immediately suggested to Qian Xun: build a dam on the Qinhuai River and build a waterwheel workshop.

Qian Xun was listening to him talk bitterly about the benefits of building a dam.

Of course, those who had been officials in the camp were very interested in presiding over such an errand as building a dam! After all, the imperial court has to allocate money to do this kind of thing, and the money will be "consumed" by some of the officials.

Qian Xun used to be a scribe, and he was very clear about these doorways, but he didn't want to break it.

The green-robed official finally finished persuading him with spittle, and Qian Xun turned his head and asked Mao Kaishan: "It is the will of the Holy God to complete the matter of the size of the Han King's cannon." The official told you to think of it, did you think of it? ”

The young Mao Kaishan hugged his fists and said: "My lord, the lower officials have found some people to discuss, and there are already two methods, and we have to try them to know." ”

Qian Xun asked carefully, "What way?" ”

Mao Kaishan said: "First of all, we set the size, and asked the workshops of various bureaus and institutes to follow the size set by our Southern Department Iron Works when casting cannons and shells; Then we have to set the rules of 'fineness'.

The officials from the Ministry of Works' wood mill said very reasonably. Even if the size of the drawing is very fine, the real thing can never be distinguished; The 'small difference' can not be too far away, and there is also a special emphasis on which is greater or smaller.

For example, the size of the rivets is slightly larger than the hole, and then the craftsmen push the rivets into and rivet them to be stable. But the size of the barrel and the iron bullet is exactly the opposite! After the two are cast and polished, the barrel can only be larger than the iron bullet, not small, otherwise it will not be stuffed in; Therefore, when determining the 'fine difference', it is necessary to determine the profit and loss. ”

Qian Xun nodded and said, "What a profit and loss!" You don't have to wait for the iron factory to be built, you can go to a workshop to try it out recently. ”

Mao Kaishan hurriedly bowed and said: "The lower official obeys the order!" ”

Qian Xun looked back left and right, and said solemnly: "When I was in the audience, the Holy Lord held his hand and said to me personally: The transformation of weapons is related to the general defense of the imperial court, and whether I can pass through the Ming frontier or not depends on you!"

The ministers are deeply favored by the emperor, and they must not be child's play when they receive this heavy responsibility. It is not a problem to reward those who have made meritorious contributions, but those who are greedy for ink and dereliction of duty will be severely punished by the official! ”

The surrounding officials clasped their fists and said, "Wait for the officials, please follow Lord Qian's admonitions." ”

Qian Xun glanced at a person quietly, and that person was the person who had persuaded him to repair the embankment just now, and Qian Xun said: "The money allocated to the Southern Administration, in addition to being withdrawn from the Ministry of Households, the Imperial Palace Internal Affairs Office also contributed money. How to spend the money of the saints, you can do it yourself! ”